The Girl Who Stood Amongst Titans
by KiyokoUchiha
Summary: A girl is raised in seclusion by her ex ANBU mother, who has taught her since the cradle how to be a kunoichi. Growing up, the visits from her father were seldom, and always joyous. Until one day, her perfect, beloved, simple world comes crashing down around her ears. She will have to teach herself how to be strong in a world of chaos. She will have to forge her own nindō.
1. Chapter 1 The beginning

**Authors note**: I do not own the Naruto Universe, or any of its characters. Suggestions are welcome appreciated even, but that doesn't mean I will use them. I hope for feedback on this, as it's an on going work, and the first thing I've ever shared with others. Also I don't have a beta reader for better or worse that's the way it is right now. Thanks for reading, hope you like it.

**Summery**: A girl is raised in seclusion by her ex ANBU mother, who has taught her since the cradle how to be a kunoichi. Growing up, the visits from her father were seldom, and always joyous. It was even better when he brought his strange over tall friend with him, who she had taken to calling Uncle. Until one day, her perfect, beloved, simple world comes crashing down around her ears. She will have to teach herself how to be strong in a world of chaos. She will have to forge her own nindō.

The Girl Who Stands Amongst Titans

Chapter 1 The beginning

A little girl's infectious laughter filled the clearing, care free and innocent. She tottered around on new legs, just learning how to work. Looking at everything, charcoal eyes wide with wonder. A silly grin adorned her heart shaped face, still chubby with baby fat. Her wavy dark auburn hair tied loosely in a lop sided pony tail, wisps of it coming undone. She waved energetically at the couple sitting in the middle of the grassy clearing, amongst the brightly colored wild flowers stubbornly holding out, even as the weather chilled as fall approached. Her emerald kimono was wrinkled, the black obi holding it together was coming untied. Typical for this troublesome two year old. Couldn't stay out of trouble for a minuet, and couldn't keep a single thing clean for more then three steps. A walking disaster.

"Da! Da!" Her high pitched voice rang across the clearing, full of excitement and wonder. Her little arms waving, pointing to something that she had found. The dark haired man rose to his full five foot seven inches, his almost black eyes softening, lighting with love and tenderness for the little girl. He crossed to where she was, dropping to his knee in the dewy grass. One arm reaching out to grab her around the waist, drawing her close and setting her on his knee.

"Kiyoko?" The rich baritone of his voice vibrating against the child's back, making her giggle.

"Da!" She giggled, while she pointed to the little fuzzy creature that had caught her attention.

"What have you found?" He asked, while taking a closer look at it. His lip quirked, as he slowly blinked. His little girl had found a fuzzy caterpillar, it was banded black and a rusty brown, it's hairs sticking out in every direction.

"It's a wooly bear caterpillar. They say that they can predict the winters. If they have a large brown segment in the middle then it will be a mild winter, but if they are mostly black it will be harsh." He was surprised. Both with himself for remembering that bit of folklore, and for telling it to his daughter. He figured there couldn't be anything wrong with telling her, so he said nothing else. Merely content to bask in the presence of his daughter, who he saw even less then her beloved mother, Mizuki.

The women also stood, and softly made her way to where father and daughter were. Her long fiery hair tossed haphazardly over one shoulder, emerald eyes shinning with love and happiness. As she approached the man lifted his dark head, a rare but gentle, genuine smile gracing his lips. Chasing the shadows from his eyes, easing the worry from his beloved face, making him look younger, like his actual age of 16 years, instead of the 25 that was typical. His life had never been an easy one. She of all people would know, having knowing met him before the academy. As she neared, her little girl looked up.

"Ma!" was all that could be passed for an actual word, though it was obvious she was attempting to repeat the information her father had just given her.

"Is that so, Kiyoko?" The mother asked in a soft, lilting voice. The little girl nodded her head vigorously, while waving her arms around once more, as she wiggled in her fathers arms. She turned to plant a slobbery kiss on his cheek, while patting his other with her chubby little hand, and with another wiggle she was on her little feet once more, racing off to find some new mystery.

The parents shared a look, the woman's one of understanding, the man's one of longing. Rarely did he manage to escape long enough to visit them, and even more rare was it safe enough to bring Kiyoko. For all his evil reputation, and for as many lives that had fallen by his hand, he was nothing if not mush in the hands of his two year old daughter.

He stood, his pant leg darkened from the moisture on the ground. His dark eyes flashed with heat as he stepped closer to her, eye falling to her mouth. His arms sweeping around her, drawing her tight against his steely chest. As his head dipped, his lips closing the distance between them, she stood on the tips of her toes, and her eyes drifted shut. Just as there was but a hair separating them, his body jerked, and tensed. His head whipped up, dark eyes darkened further before bleeding to red. His face set into grim lines. She met his gaze levelly, showing no fear, having no fear as she gazed into one of the deadliest set of eyes that there has ever been.

"What is it? What's wrong? She asked, her voice clear and strong.

"Kiyoko, come here, now!" She reached behind her into the kunai pouch, her hand resting on one, hesitant to draw it in front of her daughter. The dark hair man flash stepped to the center of the clearing, where he had set his things. The little girl, eyes wide, and somber came toddling towards her mother.

"Mizuki, take her and go." His rich baritone had gone cold, hard with steel. She closed her eyes, as much as she wanted to stay by his side, she knew he was right. A fight was no place for a little girl. She scooped Kiyoko, moving in the opposite direction from the approaching ANBU squad.

"DA!" The little girl with dark auburn hair cried, her big charcoal eye welling with tears as she was rushed from the clearing. He turn slightly, cold eyes melting, as he watched his long time lover and wife slip though the trees clutching his daughter to her chest with one hand, the other holding a razor sharp kunai. He relaxed, the tension slipping from his frame. He knew that they both would get away safe and sound, and even if they didn't his Mizuki was a more then capable kunoichi, whose skills were above the average ANBU operative. He himself had seen to that when he finely realized that he couldn't lose her. That he loved her.

The man's eyes closed. His demeanor changed. No longer was he the gentle man from but moments ago, the caring father and loving husband. He scooped down to pick up his katana, strapping it back in place, next he picked up the cloak. The black and red cloak. The black, high collared cloak, with the red cloud design. He shrugged it on, as it fell over his shoulders, and swung closed over his chest, the magnetic snaps pulling closed his mask, fell into place. No longer was he the man from before it was as if that man had never existed. And to the squad of ANBU fast approaching, he never will. Now, standing tall in the clearing, wearing the black cloak with the red clouds, eyes blazing was a top member of the notorious Akatsuki. An S-Class criminal. A clan killer. An ex ANBU captain. Uchiha Itachi. He stood in the middle of the clearing, seemingly completely relaxed, without a care in the world. To someone who didn't know him, anyways. His shoulders were just a hair to high, his posture a smidgen to straight, his lips a fraction to tight, his brows furrowed ever so slightly. Anyone who knew him, would be running for cover. For the famed apathetic Uchiha was pissed. The ANBU unit wouldn't last long.


	2. Chapter 2 A visitor

**Authors note**: I do not own the Naruto Universe, or any of its characters. Suggestions are welcome appreciated even, but that doesn't mean I will use them. I hope for feedback on this, as it's an on going work, and the first thing I've ever shared with others. Also, I don't yet have a beta reader, for better or worse. Thanks for reading, hope you like it.

The Girl Who Stood Amongst Titans

Chapter 2 A Visitor

This time the girl was four. Only an inch taller, it appears as if she will take more after her mothers petite frame of almost five feet, rather then her fathers almost six. Her hair was still in that haphazard, lop sided pony tail, with strands falling and curling around her face. This time however, she wasn't wearing a kimono, she wasn't running around, carefree and happy. She was silent as the grave. Her large charcoal eyes though, gave her away. They were sparkling with mischief, her straight face was beginning to crumble as the corner of her mouth was starting to twitch with a smile. She was hiding. Just like how a good little kunoichi hides, just like how her mother showed her, time after time. She was in the very tiptop of a tall oak tree, high enough that even if her father looked directly at her he would be hard pressed to see her through the leaves and distance. Moving with the tree beneath her, holding tightly with her hands and sitting in the crook of two branches. That way she didn't waste chakra, or give away her possession. She waited. Hiding her chakra and her growing excitement as best she could.

Earlier that day a crow had flown into the kitchen and landed in the middle of the table while her and her mother were eating to inform them that He would be by later that day. She had promptly woofed down the rest of her meager breakfast of steamed rice and miso soup, thanked the crow and rushed off to begin her plan. Much to the chagrin of her mother. She wanted to show him what she has learned. It would also be totally awesome to see the look of surprise on his face when she caught him in a trap. She had hidden sensors in the surrounding forest, all the way around the three room cabin. She was perched however, on the southeast side, over looking a deer path. It was the easiest and most direct way to approach the cabin, when coming from civilization. The most probable, and used path. The only way she could ever remember anyone using. It was this side, that she had devoted most of her time to. Laying pressure switches in an intricate pattern hidden in the brush and decay of the forest floor. They weren't set to have a noticeable difference from the forest floor, that would be far to easy to notice. She had learned that the hard way, after trying to catch her mother in a trap and failing miserably. They were there to start the second phase of the trap, spring loaded kunai launches. She had gotten the idea from a diagram in a book that her father had left behind from one of his visits, she couldn't yet read most of what it said, but she could figure out the general meaning, and the pictures in it were fascinating and quite detailed. Little did she know, her father had left the book behind for her mother, it was an old ANBU handbook on how to remain undetected and how to escape capture. The third and final layer of the trap were six bottle holes scattered through out the clearing. The hope was that as he was forced to avoid the kunai he wouldn't pay enough attention to the ground and he would land on the thin film covering of the wholes and he would fall into it, landing on small tetsubishi spikes that she had doused in venom from the mamushi snake. Her mother had almost strangled her when she learned that the child had risked life and limb to catch one of the flesh melting mamushi snakes, but the child grinned in remembrance, if this worked it would be well worth it. She wasn't viscous, nor was she trying to hurt her Him, but to catch a man like He was, one had to go to extreme measures. Truth be told, the girl didn't think that he'd actually land in one of the pits, or even get hit by a kunai … he'll probably notice the pressure switches.

Finally, after what seemed like forever to the girl hiding so carefully in the tree she could hear someone approach. She thought it strange, he doesn't make noise when he moves. Ever. The child's brows furrowed in confusion, who was coming up the path? She didn't think anyone else knew they stayed there, she was curtain that no one was able to follow her mother home, the woman had eyes in the back of her head. Her head tilted. Well, she supposed, mother would have told me if she had guests coming, lets see what we can catch, a full grown grin took over her face, her eyes dancing with mirth.

Suddenly, she felt a prescience below her, she looked down only to nearly fall from her perch in shock. There, calmly as can be, not three feet below her was her father, he was watching her, with that

blank, yet calming stare of his with one eyebrow raised. He mouth formed a silent "O" as her shoulders slumped in defeat. As she took a breath to great him, his blank stare morphed into one of amusement, his dark eyes glittering. He lifted one mildly scared hand to his lips, in the universal sign for silence.

Then pointed to were the noise was coming from. At that precise moment, a huge blue figure walked out of the trees, he had a monumental sword stuck to his back, his hulking figure was the tallest, burliest, the largest, and strangest thing the girl had ever seen, he to had the black and red cloak she had come to associate with her father. Her father, who was at the exact moment walking out of the brush a half step behind the gigantic blue … thing. Her mouth fell open in shock, her neck actually cracked when she whipped around to look at her father, who was sitting just below her, then back to her "father" in the clearing. Her eyes darting in between the two, even as she remembered not make a noise. The "father" below her in the tall oak tree seemed to practically radiate amusement, which even in the sole company of his daughter was rare for him to show so much emotion.

The hulking form of the blue shark was suddenly bombarded with kunai. So surprised was he, that not only did he not manage to avoid all the kunai he actually walked right onto one of the thin covers of the bottle holes. Yelling extreme profanities, cursing the maker of the trap, the mother of the maker of the trap and any children the maker of the trap ever has to suffer eternally in Hades, suffering all sorts of hellish torture. The poor child's ears burned red with embarrassment, her eyes widening, and her mouth dropping in shock at hearing such words, and put into such colorful arrangements. Her father's laid back, amused appearance disappeared into one of annoyance. He stood, and simply stepped out, off the tree branch and plummeted towards the ground. The girl gasped, and quickly maneuvered to get a better look at the ground where her father ought to land. He landed, with out a noise, the bottom of his cloak billowed out around him, his knees slightly bent. He straightened to his full height, a menacing look descending upon his normally apathetic face.

"Kisame, insult my daughter or her mother again and I'll kill you." Itachi's frigid voice rang out across the clearing.

"Your daughter?" The high, rather squeaky voice that now emerged from the creature who just seconds ago was booming out vivid revenge plans was hilarious.

The girl who hadn't moved after settling again, couldn't help the giggle that burst out from behind her clasped hands, her shoulders shaking as she tried to contain her laughter. She shakily, still giggling, jumped nimbly from branch to branch, slowly but surely making her way closer to the ground. When her feet were about eye level with her fathers, her giggle turned to full blown laughter. She gathered her self, and jumped straight out of the tree.

"Daddy!" She called mid free fall, hand out stretched trusting impeccably that he would catch her. He didn't disappoint. He partially turned, caught her by her hands and swung her straight up, causing her to laugh madly in glee, before catching her once more and settling her against his hip. Once settled the little girl wrapped her arms around him and berried her nose in his neck. She merely clung to him, while the now newly named Kisame attempted to remove himself from the hole she had dug. She peaked out at the blue man who looked intimidating up close, and promptly stuck her tongue out at him.

"Meanie! You called Mama bad words!" She chided with a child's authority. When the shark man looked up and glared at her, she squeaked, and hid in her fathers arms again. Not use to having visitors, up to this point in the five year old's life the only people she had ever encountered where her

beloved daddy and her mother, and all those bad guys dressed in black with the funny white metal things. She tugged on her fathers sleeve. He turned his head to look at her, the stern look softening, one eye brow cocked. She leaned in towards him, and whispered in his ear.

"Tell meanie-san that he should stop thrashing around, the tetsubishi spikes are covered in venom from the mamushi snake." Her father, Uchiha Itachi blinked. Looked at her quizzically, and asked a simple question in his soft baritone that seemed to radiate out into the surrounding forest.

"Kiyoko-chan, how did you get venom from a mamushi snake?" He turned his head more fully to look directly at his tiny child. A frown tugging at his mouth. Kisame froze.

"Mamushi venom? There is mamushi venom in this thing?" His beady little black eyes widen.

"I was reading one of the nature books that Mama has and it talked about the mamushi snakes

and their venom, and how it could be extracted and where to find them." She paused, "I didn't think I'd actually be able to catch anyone, I've never managed to catch Mama, and I knew you wouldn't get caught it my trap." Her little voice trailing off, as her mother walked into the clearing. She scrambled out of her fathers arms and rushed to hide behind her mother, her face flushed with embarrassment, she had never been around so many people at once. She didn't see the flash of hurt that crossed her fathers face. Both Kisame and her mother did, but the poor girl, as sharp and talented as she was there was just to many new things going on for her to notice it.

"Kiyoko-chan," her mother said softly as one hand landed on her head, "Go on up to the cabin and grab my medic bag, Kisame-san is going to need help once we get him out." Her mother scooted her towards the cabin. As she left, she could hear her mothers voice raise in aggravation.

"Itachi what the hell are you doing bringing a stranger here?" Even as she spoke harshly to him, she dropped to her knees in front of Kisame, whose impossibly wide eyes widened even further, in shock at meeting Itachi's lover. She preformed a series of quick hand signs, dropped one hand towards the ground and with a shaking of the ground Kisame had enough room to move his arms so he could pull himself up. He moved so that he could sit on the edge of the widened hole to look at his feet, which did indeed have a tiny tetsubishi spike stuck to his big toe. The surrounding flesh was already beginning to blacken and had a shiny quality to it.

"Oh dear," Mizuki mumbled, "I had hoped Kiyoko-chan was mistaken when she mentioned finding a pit of mamushi's." She frowned, healing chakra already gathering in her hands as she reached out to the sharks foot.

"Seriously though Itachi-kun, I thought you said we were going to keep Kiyoko-chan a secret from ..."

"Mizuki." Itachi cut in sharply, far sharper then he had ever spoken to her before, "Enough, we will speak on this matter latter." It had a ring of finality about it, as if further discussion wouldn't be tolerated.

Mizuki's frown turned into a full blown grimace. Before she could say or do anything else, Kiyoko came bounding down the deer trail with a bag that looked to weigh as much if not more then her. By the time she reached the adults she was out of breath, her cheeks were flushed and she had a drop of sweat dripping down the side of her face. She soundlessly handed over the bag to her mother, but before she could disappear into the undergrowth again, her fathers hand came to rest on her shoulder.

"Kiyoko," He began beckoning her closer, "Come, walk with me." The phrasing was that of a demand, but the soft lilting quality in which it was spoken was a question. Itachi would never make needless demands of his daughter, safety not withstanding. She grinned and grabbed his hand off her shoulder and started to drag him north, "Come on Daddy! I got something to show you!" All happiness and giggles once again.

As they disappeared into the forest Kiyoko's excited chatter could be heard as she told her seldom there, but always loving father everything that he had missed out on, everything she had learned, and everything that she had new questions about.


	3. Chapter 3

**Authors note**: I do not own the Naruto Universe, or any of its characters. Suggestions are welcome appreciated even, but that doesn't mean I will use them. I hope for feedback on this, as it's an on going work, and the first thing I've ever shared with others. Also, I don't yet have a beta reader, for better or worse. Thanks for reading, hope you like it. Sorry it took so long to update, I've found it difficult to bridge where I want the story to go and where it is. This is by far the worst chapter of the story to date.

Chapter 3 Time-laps

It was a time of peace for the odd little family. The Uchiha was able to visit far more than he had in the past, being able to visit both his wife and child at least once a month. Every visit was a surprise, though he would never admit it. His little girl was a fast learner, he only had to show her how to do something once, or explain something once and with in days she was able to master the talent. It always brought him great joy to see his little girl excelling in the arts of the shinobi, not because she was pressured into it, not because it was what was expected but because she loved it. Teaching her was singularly his favorite thing to do, and apparently her favorite thing was to learn. The girl never ran out of things to ask, she always had some new inquiry to bombard him with when he arrived. Weather it was late at night, early in the morning or sometime in the afternoon, the pattern was always the same.

She always had a trap set for his arrival, it was never the same thing twice. Then once he had either avoided the trap or completely escaped it (Kisame would almost always get caught) he would be pounced on by his tiny, exuberant child. All laughter and gins as she would nearly strangle him with her enthusiastic greetings. Then she would bombard him, and sometimes Kisame with questions about where they had been and what they had been doing and how did this or that work, and how does one properly utilize such and such jutsu. Then after everyone was settled and food had been prepared and consumed under the watchful eye of Mizuki and she deemed him rested, the training would begin.

It was like the girl had three special ANBU's to cater to her every learning desire. Never did they push her beyond what she could do, but they didn't have to. The girl pushed herself just fine with out adult intervention. She was a true perfectionist. She would train until she was almost asleep on her feet just so that what ever she was working on was absolute perfection.

Training with Kisame was always the best though, he might be a big, dumb, lumbering land shark who wasn't very nice but, he was more prone to letting her do more dangerous techniques. Sometimes her mother would figure it out in the middle of one the training and rush out to put a stop to it. Sometimes her father would let her, most of the time he stopped her. Other times her father would simply appear and closely monitor the training to prevent injury. It was Kisame who taught her how to use tijutsu. It had to look odd, seeing such a large creature teach such a tiny pixy like child how to fight. She would never be on par with Konoha's Lee but, she would be able to at least hold her own in a fight with just about anyone long enough for her enormous brain to figure a way out.

Her mother was the best for Ninjutsu training. Not because her mother was lacking in the other skills but merely because it was what she was best at. It also helped that Mizuki and her each shared water natured chakra. She taught her everything from simple, yet useful jutsu to complected specialty jutsu she was told to only ever use in dire situations where it was life or death. Mizuki also taught her daughter the importance of endurance, both in body and mind.

To Kiyoko nothing was better then training with her father. To her he was infallible. He knew all, he saw all and what was even better he could teacher her what to do with her pretty red eyes. He gave her a moral compass taught her right from wrong. And the value in peace. He taught her to meditate, and how to plan, to always use strategies. It was her father she was closest to, and it was he who she always went to when anything went wrong. Be it physically which was rare, or by letters, carried by his crow summons.

It was like this that the years passed. The girl was always striving to learn and to perfect that which she learned, and what she made up. Her family was always willing to challenge her, so long as it wasn't to dangerous. The girl had the makings to surpass her father, had possibly already done so, when doing an age by age comparison. Though for all her talent and promise she was sheltered. She'd never gone on a mission, she'd never fought for her life, she'd never been around anyone but her family.


End file.
